1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to remote control systems and remote control apparatuses, and more specifically to remote control systems and remote control apparatuses for remotely controlling a mobile body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Remote control systems for remotely controlling a mobile body, such as an automobile, from a distance by means of a remote control apparatus are already public, and in the field of remote control systems, there have been a number of technical proposals for easier remote control operations of the mobile body. An example of such efforts is an image generation system disclosed in JP-A 2005-208857. The system displays a composite image of an environmental image which was taken in the past by a camera provided in the mobile body and a mobile body image placed thereon.
JP-A 2005-208857 discloses that in cases where communications means between the mobile body and the remote control apparatus is provided by a slow-speed (narrow band) communication means, updating of the mobile body image is performed while the environmental image is fixed. Fixing the environmental image in this way makes it possible to reduce the number of environmental images which must be sent from the mobile body to the remote control apparatus and the amount of data communications from the mobile body to the remote control apparatus.
A problem, however, in the case of fixing the environmental image according to the disclosure in JP-A 2005-208857, as follows. As the mobile body image is updated, the mobile body image moves from a predetermined position in the environmental image. This takes place in such a manner that the mobile body image becomes increasingly smaller with respect to the environmental image as the mobile body moves away from the place at which the environmental image was taken, making the remote controlling of the mobile body increasingly difficult.